Compound gin is gin made by steeping juniper and other botanicals directly in a finished neutral spirit, rather than redistilling the spirit with the botanicals in the still. It is the method every home gin kit uses, it needs no equipment beyond a jar and a sieve, and it is the only one of the two that is legal to do at home without HMRC approval. The trade off is that a compound gin usually carries a little colour and a slightly rounder, more rustic character than a crystal clear London dry. For a lot of people that is the appeal rather than the compromise.
How is compound gin made?
You put the botanicals in the spirit, you wait, and you take them out again. That is genuinely the whole method.
In practice it goes like this. Measure juniper berries and a botanical blend into a large jar or wide mouthed container, pour over a 700ml bottle of inexpensive vodka, seal it and leave it at room temperature out of direct sunlight. Taste it with a pipette as the days pass, because you are the one deciding when it is ready. When the flavour is where you want it, pour the gin through a metal sieve or a filter bag into a jug, let it drip and give it only a gentle press rather than a hard squeeze, then funnel it into a clean bottle and label it.
Our Gin Making Kit is built around exactly that sequence, with juniper plus coriander, citrus peel, allspice and lemongrass, and a steep of under a week.
How is that different from a distilled gin?
A distilled gin starts the same way, with botanicals and a neutral spirit, but then the whole lot goes through a still. The alcohol and the aromatic compounds it carries evaporate and are condensed back into liquid, and the botanical solids, along with most of the pigment and some of the heavier flavours, are left behind in the pot.
That is why commercial gins are usually water clear despite having had orange peel and hibiscus and heaven knows what else in them. The colour never makes it through the still. It is also why a distilled gin tends to taste cleaner and more precise, and a compound gin tends to taste fuller and a bit more like the ingredients you can see in the jar.
Why is it called bathtub gin?
The nickname comes from the compounding that went on when distilling was out of reach or out of bounds, most famously during American prohibition, when flavourings were stirred into whatever spirit could be got hold of. The name stuck to the method rather than to the quality, which is a little unfair, since compounding predates that era by a long way and has nothing inherently rough about it.
Modern bathtub style gins are made deliberately and sold proudly. The method is the same one you are using at your kitchen table: good spirit, good botanicals, enough patience to let them talk to each other, and the sense to strain before it turns bitter.
Does compound gin taste different?
It tastes like gin, with a difference of texture more than of kind. Juniper is still the backbone, because juniper is what makes gin gin, and the supporting botanicals do the same work they do in any recipe: bright citrus from lemongrass and dried lemon and orange peel, warmth from coriander and allspice.
What you notice is a slightly softer, rounder finish, and a flavour that keeps moving depending on when you strained. Leave the botanicals in too long and it goes harsh, which you can soften by topping the batch up with a little more vodka. Strain too early and it tastes thin, which you fix next time by steeping for longer or using a touch more botanical. Tasting as you go is not a nicety here, it is the control you have instead of a still.
What does compound gin look like?
Usually a light amber or yellow rather than colourless, and that is correct rather than a fault. The dried orange and lemon peel gives up colour along with its flavour, and since nothing is redistilled afterwards, the colour stays in the bottle. Different blends land in different places on the scale, and a batch left a day longer will generally look a shade deeper.
A slight haze is also normal with natural botanicals. If it bothers you, strain it again through the sieve or a filter bag without squeezing, then chill it. A little fine sediment settling out in the bottle is likewise nothing to worry about: let it settle and decant the clear gin off the top.
Is compound gin legal to make at home?
Yes, because nothing is produced in the legal sense. You bought a spirit that was already made and taxed, and you added flavour to it. Distilling is the part that is regulated: since 1 February 2025, producing alcoholic products, including spirits, requires HMRC's Alcoholic Products Producer Approval, and producing without the appropriate approval is an offence, according to GOV.UK. Selling what you make is a separate question again, needing a licence from your council under the Licensing Act 2003. Gin kits are for adults aged 18 and over.
Compound gin FAQs
What is compound gin?
Gin made by steeping juniper and botanicals in a finished neutral spirit and then straining them out, with no redistillation. It is the method used by home gin kits.
Is compound gin real gin?
Yes. Juniper is the defining flavour of gin and compound gin is juniper led like any other. The difference is in how the flavour gets into the spirit, not in whether it belongs there.
Why is compound gin not clear?
Because the colour from dried citrus peel and other botanicals stays in the liquid. Commercial gins are redistilled after the botanicals go in, which leaves the pigment behind in the still.
Is compound gin weaker than distilled gin?
No. Infusing does not dilute the spirit, so a 37.5% vodka gives you a 37.5% gin. The strength on your vodka label is the strength of your finished gin.
How long does compound gin take to make?
Days rather than weeks. The Gin Making Kit infuses in under a week, and you taste as you go and strain when it is right for you.
Fancy making a bottle of your own? Have a look at our gin making kits.
